Anchor (brand)
The Anchor brand of dairy products was founded in New Zealand in 1886 and is one of the key brands owned by the New Zealand based international exporter Fonterra Co-operative Group. In Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan the Fernleaf brand is used in place of Anchor. Anchor Brand in New Zealand painted with Anchor livery.]] Historically the Anchor brand of milk products in New Zealand was owned by the New Zealand Dairy Group which merged with Kiwi Co-operative in 2001 to form the mega dairy co-operative Fonterra. As this merger would leave New Zealand with virtually no competition in the domestic dairy sector, government legislation was required for Fonterra to be formed. One of the requirements was that Fonterra must divest its strongest domestic brand, Anchor in the New Zealand market. This did not affect the brand internationally. The brand was sold to what is currently Goodman Fielder. Between 2001 and 2005 Fonterra grew one of their smaller milk brands which was originally only available in the South Island of New Zealand, 'Meadow Fresh Milk' into a nationwide brand which provided good competition to the Anchor Brand of milk products. In 2005 Fonterra did a brand swap with what is now Goodman Fielder, swapping Meadow Fresh for Anchor meaning Fonterra could once again align its international and domestic dairy brands. Anchor Milk Fresh Anchor Milk products available in New Zealand are manufactured and marketed by "Fonterra Brands" a division of the Fonterra. The main milk processing plant producing Anchor milk in New Zealand is in Takanini, Auckland. In addition to the common varieties with differing percentages of milk fat, they also offer "Anchor-Xtra", with extra calcium (marketed to "extra active" parents), and "Mega Milk", with extra vitamins, as well as extra calcium, marketed for children. Anchor Butter and Anchor Cheese Anchor Butter and Anchor Cheese is sold in New Zealand, however the brand for these products in New Zealand is still owned by a Goodman Fielder subsidiary. For butter and cheese the brand was not returned to Fonterra in the brand swap so not all Anchor branded products are Fonterra products in New Zealand. However, like most dairy products in New Zealand the milk is still sourced from Fonterra suppliers and for butter and cheese it is also likely that Fonterra manufactured the products with Goodman Fielder simply packaging the products. Anchor Brand Outside New Zealand Internationally the Anchor Brand is 100% owned by the Fonterra Co-operative Group. It is available in (and manufactured in) many areas including: *Australia *Philippines *Malaysia *Singapore *Taiwan *Middle East *Sri Lanka *Mauritius *Pacific *United Kingdom Anchor Facts Anchor Spreadable is one of their specialized products. The butter-based spread is softened with canola oil and spreads easily, but marketing claims of being spreadable direct from the refrigerator have been questioned. A 2003 ad campaign for Anchor Spreadable, created by Jonti Picking, of Weebl and Bob fame, included television commercials featuring wobbly cows. Anchor spreadable (butter), and other New Zealand butters products, were banned from import into the EU for a short time. This came after a complaint made to the European Commissioner for Trade, Peter Mandelson, by the Germany|German dairy trader, Egenberger.http://www.foodworks.co.nz/news/newsprevious.htm References External links * Anchor * Anchor Institute Category:Food companies of New Zealand Category:Agricultural marketing cooperatives Category:Agriculture in New Zealand Category:Auckland